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Thepower of social media changed things for rising artists a few years afterImetAxel.Thosewith talent were no longer handicapped by their lack of connections; they now had a direct platform to reach their audience.Instagramblew up withDJAxel’sname and he escalated from a clubDJto a superstar almost overnight.Iheard his name on the radio a year after getting married.IthoughtIwas losing my mind untilIGoogledhim and found out he had already amassed wealth through various investments, one of them being hisDJcareer.
Neverin a million years didIconnect the dots;Axelhad used the moneyIleft to build all of this.Atmost,Ithought he used it as rent money to float his music career.ThethingsAxelhad admitted beforeIfell asleep were both bone-chilling and heart-breaking.
“Axel…”Istarted in a soft voice. “I’msorry for leaving that morning.”Itsounded pathetic even to my ears.
Howthe hell did one apologize for this?Sorryfor stranding you on a beach five minutes after you thought we shared something so profound.
Ihad painted him as the villain and a thorn in my side.Itturned out thatIwas the bad guy.
“I-Iam very happy you accomplished what you set out to do,”Icontinued, looking around the lavish room.
Axelturned to me, pulling on his jeans. “WhatIset out to do?”Hegestured around the room with one hand. “Ithought this would makeyouhappy.”
Speechless,Isnapped my mouth shut.Ihad no idea how to respond and continued dressing quietly untilIrealized what my ensemble was missing.
“Doyou know where my shoes and purse are?”Iasked somewhat awkwardly.Theroom was immaculate.Ifmy purse were here, it’d be easy to locate the giant tote or the glittery pink cell phone case peeking out of it.Itwas so sparkly that it could be identified from space.
“Youleft it in the other room.”
“Right.”Despitelocating the coveted purse and shoes,Iremembered another problem.Myphone was dead. “Canyou call me anUber?”
“You’renot leaving,” he snapped.
Takenaback by the sharp tone,Iparted my dry lips.
Axelswiftly smoothed out his frown, swapping the previous expression for an award-winning smirk. “Itold you thatIwanted to show you something.Youhaven’t seen it yet.”
Ifrowned. “Butyou showed me the piano.Thatwasn’t the big surprise?”
Axelshook his head. “Let’sgo.”Henodded toward the bedroom door.
Isighed and followedAxelwithout argument.Myprevious fury overAxel’smisconduct and the guilt over inadvertently betrayingJayhadn’t vanquished, butIbanked it away for now.RaisingPoppyhad given me further insight intoAxel.Peoplewith antisocial personalities often had a distinct sense of justice and what they were owed.Accordingto him,Ibetrayed him, which came with consequences and irrational actions.Whilesome trepidation remained,Iwas no longer scared ofAxel.Inits place,Iwanted to pacify the rejection he must’ve experienced after that night and soothe whateverIhad broken in him.Ijust didn’t know how.Hewanted me to leaveJay, but divorce wasn’t an option, nor couldIreturn to my marriage without disclosing today’s occurrence toJay.Asingle isolated mistake might be forgivable, whereas this was too big to repress.
Witha heavy heart,Iwalked down the extravagant hallway withAxeland reentered the music room.Itappeared someone had come by and tidied up.Iwas surprised becauseAxelmentioned that the staff didn’t access this floor without his permission.
Theroom was once more immaculate, traces of our previous struggle miraculously erased.Mypurse and shoes were placed neatly next to the mahogany desk, and the scattered paperwork had been picked up and gathered into a neat pile.
Heatrose at the base of my neck asIremembered how the papers had gone flying.Iturned away, spotting a cell phone charger plugged into the wall on the other side of the massive room.Imust have overlooked it during my first encounter with this room.
Therewas one more deviation to the scene.Astack of manila folders sat atopAxel’sdesk, perfectly aligned in an orderly fashion.
Thoseweren’t there before.
ThewayAxeldeviated toward the files and told me to give him a minute—despite his previous resolve to show me something important—confirmed my suspicions.Someonehad dropped those folders off perAxel’sinstructions, and judging by his interest, they held important information.
Axelmethodically opened every folder, reading the documents from cover to cover.Consideringhow meticulously he reviewed the information,Irealized it’d takeAxelsome time to go through all of them.So,Igrabbed my sparkly cell phone and crossed the room.Iplugged it into the wall charger and watched with relief as my phone lit up with life.IfIwanted to read my messages,Icouldn’t disconnect it from the charger, soIstayed huddled on the opposite side of the room, next to the wall.
Foronce,Axeldidn’t complain or demand thatIstay next to him.Seizingthe opportunity while he was intensely concentrated on the documents,Idecided to callPoppy.Thiswas the most distractedIhad seenAxel, andIwas too far away for him to eavesdrop on our conversation.
Aftera momentary hesitation,Iunlocked my phone and hitPoppy’sname.Iheard the ringing on the other end and wondered if she’d decline my call.Iwas surprised when my daughter’s voice came through.
“Hello?”Poppysounded reluctant sinceIgenerally called around her bedtime.
“Hi,Beta,”Isaid softly.
Axelglanced at me from across the room when he heard me on the phone.Hereturned to the paperwork upon realizingIwas speaking toPoppy, giving me the privacyIsought for this conversation.Itried to snuff out the emotionsAxelhad roused today but felt them creeping up my throat, nonetheless.
“Howare you?”Iasked.
